The Book with the Copper Cover (Intro)
Sweet Apple Acres
Spring 24th, 2013
Applebloom was utterly confused by the command from Applejack to join her downstairs,seeing her sister on the couch and looking at her with expecting eyes. The little yellow filly joined her on the couch, an inquisitive look on her brow which grew more perplexed when she noticed Applejack clutching a book in her hooves.
"Heya Applebloom. I reckoned ya might like ta read a story on machinery, you finally finding yer cutie mark n' all." Applejack started, setting the book on the table before glancing momentarily at the hammer on Applebloom's flank.
Applebloom too glanced at the cutie mark when her older sister brought it to her attention. She smiled at the hammer, remembering when they had first tried Cutie Mark Crusader Carpenters. Turns out the only reason it turned into abstract art was because the other two were 'helping'. She had tried her hoof at fixing it only two months ago (after Fluttershy agreed hesitantly, of course) and was able to return it to pristine condition. At first, she had thought somepony had splashed warm water on her flank until her eyes were momentarily filled with a bright flash and a hammer formed on her yellow fur.
The happiest moment of her life by far, but thankfully it didn't drive a wedge in her friendship with the other Crusaders who were still blank-flanks. In fact, she was now considered an example of how the Crusader program works, and a few new blank-flanks joined since then. Of these was young filly named Motherboard who was diagnosed as cutietose, meaning she was incapable of acquiring a cutie mark even if she found her talent. A horrible birth defect, but thankfully she's given a lot of support at the group despite everypony knowing her talent was inventing.
Now remembering the book on the table, she took the hard-covered novel in her hooves and gasped at how heavy it was. The bucking cover was made of metal, she realized when the cover glimmered in the light filtering through the window. "And you carried it all the way from Twilight's house how?" Applebloom asked incredulously, seeing an amused smile on her sister's face.
"Actually, Twilight teleported it here. Ah'm lucky Ah got back here when Ah did, otherwise ya would've found it." Applejack chuckled, stopping when she saw her little filly was anything but amused. "Can you lift the cover?" The orange mare asked, Applebloom only shrugging before lifting the cover up with difficulty, turning it to expose hundreds of pages yellowed by time.
The front page was nothing more than the book's name and a sketch of a nondescript pony laying on its back facing the reader. It's arms and legs were drawn in three different places it, each moving further from the original. Another strange detail was the fact that the joints were drawn like machine joints, the eyes looking like a focus lens. Applebloom was both intrigued and confused. A pony made of metal? She just couldn't fathom somepony actually building another pony out of scrap metal and screws, but the idea was an interesting one.
How do you go about it? Are there special materials or spells needed? What would a metal pony even do?
Anything you wanted, she decided with an internal shrug.
Finally looking up at the title, she felt like some kind of answer had met her. It didn't make sense on any level, but the inner-craftspony in her felt like a million questions had been silenced.
STEAM POWERED STORIES
Steam? Like hot air? It seemed too simple to be true. Than again, she rationalized, they did power some trains with steam so perhaps making other machines run on it didn't seem to farfetched. Flipping the page, she was met with an intro, a picture of a stallion with grey fur and a black-and-white mane, his cutie mark being what looked like a pocket-watch. The goggles he wore were made of copper, a lever on the left eye capable of lowering a second set of lenses to form a spyglass. His hat was covered in patchwork, a burning candle sticking out from a compartment beneath the hat's metal lid - upon further examination, the second lenses were positioned to create a beam of light from the flame, making it double as a flashlight. He wore boots for some reason, fancy and laced up - a design even Rarity might approve of, if not for the grime covering the stallion.
He seemed almost handsome (albeit a 'hard-working' kind of handsome), his face being one of intrigue as a blurry object reflected in his glasses - beneath them, of course, were two lovely copper-brown eyes.
Looking to the foreword, she found it satisfyingly short yet too short for her curiosity. The sentences seemed to be written over the course of several weeks, as if the writer was writing it as a side-project when not working on something more important. An oil-stain marked the page on numerous occasions, thankfully never obstructing the words. Her interest piqued, she began to read.
Hello reader,
My name is Clockwork, and I am an inventor much like I'm sure you aspire to be. If not, perhaps you're a curious pony who wishes to know more about the odd world of copper and steam. Regardless of what you are, I want you to first know what an amazing catalog of stories you are to read! Keep in mind, these stories are passed down from generation to generation, experienced father telling steam-inspired son. None of them have been proven true, but they still hold firm as stories capable of moving inventors and mechanics alike to a life like mine - the life of Equestria's most amazing builders, the steampunks.
Steampunk? Applebloom was puzzled by the term.
Steampunk, you ask yourself? You may wonder what exactly a steampunk is and what he /she does, and like all steampunks I'd be happy to show you rather than tell you. Look at the next page, please.
Applebloom blinked at the words. Perhaps the writer had a similar thought process, and knew this would be where somepony like her would be confused. She actually liked that idea, for some reason. Flipping the page, she saw something that filled her with terror and awe. The page was covered with pictures of a devices built of gears and spinning axles. Devices that looked almost life-like, creatures made of copper and spring-joints and even a metal pony similar to the one on the first page, their hoof up in a waving gesture. "Amazing.." She muttered, not noticing her sister was looking over her shoulder.
Turning back, she continued to read.
Amazing, right? Well, that's what steampunks like me have the pleasure of building everyday. Steampunks, to directly answer your questions, are inventors who are particularly impressive at building steam-powered machines. Steam, of course, is known as the only fuel in Equestria to possess magical properties, and machines built from it are known to even come alive when powered up. The pony you see on the next and first page is called Wrench, and he's an invention I built to aid me in the lab or write down my story while I worked. I apologize for any stains on the pages, but Wrench has a tendency to drip oil when he works too hard.
Applebloom giggled, imagining a flustered Clockwork yelling at a drippy metal pony. Applejack just found herself possessed with almost fearful awe.
Alright, let's get back to the foreword. Been putting this off for almost a month now. Wait, you're writing already? Great Celestia, Wrench, you're not supposed to write down everything I say! And you're writing that down too! I don't care what I said, stop bucking writing!
*Ahem* Sorry for Wrench. He is a tad uncooperative at times. Back to the topic at hoof. Had we already explained what steampunks do? We did? Good. We introduced you, right? Excellent. Now, reader, II want you to try and imagine a world where steampunk inventions were the norm, and everypony loved the steam-powered marvels around them. Can't? Then you either didn't pay attention in history class or are much younger than I anticipated.
Well, a steampunk Equestria was in fact Equestria many MANY years ago. Almost a millennium, in fact. Those times were fantastic - or so I'm told. I'm a great inventor, but nopony has ever made a time machine...that is, if the stories you are to read are untrue. Celestia herself once found steam to be a wonderful power-source, her original castle-guards being more commonly copper than pony! Obviously, they were a higher-quality invention as opposed to my model, probably crafted by master 'punks like Hoofiwork or Padlock.
What happened to this age of magical machines? Who could end such a time of invention? Well, I'm at the displeasure of being the culprits' great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great nephew. Their names were Voltage and Kilowatt, and they was the 'scientists' who discovered the 'amazing' power-source that is electricity. After it was found that electricity could be produced cheaply and machines it powered worked 'better', they cast aside steam and moved straight from the first Industrial Revolution to the second without consideration of the inventors they left in the dust.
Since then, no third Revolution has occurred and I'm sure it won't come during my lifetime or yours. No further need for inventing is needed, nor any use for our steampunk devices. The cog is dead, but we carry on.
How was that deep? I don't see anything peculiar with what I said. I just wanted to say that we continue to work in a world that doesn't look to us anymo- okay, you're right. That was kind of deep.
Applebloom once again chuckled at the inventor's mumblings, looker for further words but only seeing one line.
Enough talk, you have quite a few stories to be told.
Applebloom looked over her shoulder when she felt Applejack's breath on her neck, gasping when she saw how close she was. "What are ya doin', sis?"
Applejack pulled away, a little flustered. "Ah was...just readin' the story. Ain't it a weird little thing?"
Applebloom nodded after a moment, closing the book almost instantaneously when somepony knocked on the door. "The girls are here!" She cheered before trotting to the door and opening it. "Heya girls!"
"Hi Applebloom!" Scootaloo smiled, the orange pegasus flittering a little over the ground. She does that a lot nowadays, Applebloom mused.
"Hi Scootaloo!" Sweetie Belle waved to the pegasus with a smile, both ponies looking at the white unicorn in confusion. Sweetie was known for moments of air-headedness, but this was a little extreme.
"Aw, forget it." Applebloom muttered to Scootaloo before the olive-gray filly trotted out of her house. "Are we going to the clubhouse?"
"Sure are! Motherboard's already there!" Sweetie Belle beamed, spinning around trotting off down the trail; Applebloom and Scootaloo followed soon after.
Inside, Applejack still looked over that odd book. She wasn't a bookworm like Twilight and she definitely didn't want to be called an egghead by Rainbow Dash, but something about it filled the orange mare with curiosity. Applebloom seemed more understanding of the contents, but the earth pony also felt like something about it called to her. Closing the door after the fillies had left, she walked over to the book and lifted its heavy cover.
"AJ?"
Applejack looked up to see Big Macintosh looking at her curiously. "Just doin' some readin', Mac."
The red stallion was silent for a moment before giving a nod and trotting out the door, his trot turning into a brisk canter as he made his way down to the fields. Applejack looked out the window, only turning to the book when her big brother was fully out of sight.
Flipping to the first story, she started to read.
"In the times of copper," She started reading to herself, "there were many great coppersmiths. Of all these craftsponies, nopony was better than Redpot..."
Later that Day...
Applebloom opened the door to her house, followed by an orange pegasus, a white unicorn, and an off-white earth pony filly. The four ponies started to file toward the kitchen, having heard the dinner bell ring minutes ago. Stage 1 of Cutie Mark Crusaders Sleepover at Applebloom's House was in progress, and soon the actually sleepover would begin.
Stopping when she heard a snore, the eggshell pony spun around to see something that she couldn't help but crack up at. Applebloom spun around to question her inventor friend, when he saw what she was laughing at and joined in.
Applejack was sprawled out on the couch, the extremely heavy book laying on her face and a rumbling snore escaping her.
"Should we draw on her face?" Sweetie Belle asked, bouncing in place.
"No, that'd be mean." Motherboard, the off-white earth pony, stammered before flicking her auburn hair back. The little inventor looked hopeful at Applebloom, who rolled her eyes.
"We ain't gonna draw on my sister's face, Sweetie Belle."
"But we drew on Rarity-"
"That's different." Applebloom smirked, nudging the unicorn. "She's your sister."
Sweetie Belle humphed, trotting over to Applejack and pawing at the book on her face. The massive tome slid off and fell to the floor, landing right in front of the little filly and scaring her. The resounding thud! also succeeded in waking of the older mare. The cowpony sat up abruptly, looking everywhere before her eyes landed on Sweetie and the book. She then looked at Applebloom and her other friends.
"Uh, it's not what it looks like?" Applejack blushed, feigning innocence.
Applebloom's knowing glare was like burning daggers. The others just watched as the orange mare sat frozen as the younger filly stared.
"Ah'll...just take it up to yer room, okay?" The cowpony suggested, smiling hopefully.
"Sounds wonderful." Applebloom beamed after a moment.
The three other fillies merely shared glances before just shrugging and trotting to the kitchen for some tasty apple soup.
Author's Note
My Little Pony is property of Hasbro.
Clockwork and Motherboard are property of me.
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Yes, Motherboard is a filly version of the villain from my fic A Land Without Magic.
--
Yes, a good portion of these stories might be based on songs by The Cog is Dead. Just don't expect the last bit of Steam Powered Stories (Reprise). /shot
